Is this enough for 10th Grade?

[Kassia]

I was comfortable with our tenth grade plans, but now I'm second guessing myself after reading other posts.  

 

Here's our plan for now:

 

American Lit and Composition (1 credit)

 

U.S. History - American History Odyssey for High School minus the literature part (1 credit)

 

Chemistry - Elementary Chemistry w/Lab - 4 credit DE class (1 credit)

 

Trigonometry - 3 credit DE class (1 credit)

 

Calculus - 5 credit DE class (1 credit)

 

Art Appreciation - 3 credit DE class (1 credit)

 

 

 

Dd has taken 4 semesters of DE Spanish and there are no more Spanish courses for her to take there.  She is learning Portuguese on her own (she did that with Spanish before taking the DE classes), but I don't know if she will do enough for a credit yet.  

 

American History Odyssey includes geography for .5 credit, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable putting that on her transcript.  

 

Depending on how much time she has, I could add in Health for .5 credit.  

 

We want to introduce her to coding over the summer, but that would be light.  I want to see if she likes it.  

 

 

She also volunteers at the library for 2 hours/week and she will be teaching Spanish 1 online - this will take up a lot of time since she has to design the course.  She taught Intro to Spanish this semester.  She's in gymnastics once a week and she may go back to aerial acrobatic classes.  That's up in the air.  

 

 

Thank you for any thoughts you have! 

 

 

 

 

[Penelope]

The only thing I would wonder about is calling Trig a full credit. Isn't Trig usually half of what is covered in precalculus, which all together is a full credit? Math for the year is more than covered, but I don't know if it is two credits or 1.5.

 

Your dd on paper looks motivated with varied interests. I am not a college adcom of course, but I think that is great! If it were me, I would try to get another half or full credit in somewhere with the language (Intro to Portuguese language and culture for 0.5?) or health, but my advice is coming from someone with a kid the same grade level, not BTDT.

[Kassia]

The only thing I would wonder about is calling Trig a full credit. Isn't Trig usually half of what is covered in precalculus, which all together is a full credit? Math for the year is more than covered, but I don't know if it is two credits or 1.5.

 

 

 

It's a 3 credit college course, so I assumed it should count as 1 semester.  I wonder if that's okay.  It's the course leading up to calculus and I assumed (maybe incorrectly) that the college calls it Trigonometry even though it's really a precalculus class.  

 

Thank you for your reply!  

[GoodGrief]

What are her goals as far as future plans? "Enough" is fairly subjective.

[Kassia]

What are her goals as far as future plans? "Enough" is fairly subjective.

 

I thought about that when I posted, but don't really know the answer because she doesn't know what she wants to do.

 

She definitely wants to go to college.  She is very strong in math, writing, and languages.  She enjoys math and creative writing, but loves languages.  She has thought about teaching languages, but she's very introverted and says she doesn't think she can do that for a living.  She doesn't like science and isn't crazy about history.  Based on her math ability, interest, and introversion, I think she'd enjoy computer science, but I don't know yet since she hasn't been exposed to it.   She is very organized and driven, but gets stressed easily.  

[wed1998]

Even for a student strong in math, Trig and Calculus in the same year seems very heavy to me.  Add Chemistry in there also and, at least on paper, it might be overwhelming.  As my own rising 10th grader reminds me, there should be time for getting together with friends, relaxing, reading for pleasure, travel, etc.  Just my .02 cents worth, of course! :001_smile:

[Kassia]

Even for a student strong in math, Trig and Calculus in the same year seems very heavy to me.  Add Chemistry in there also and, at least on paper, it might be overwhelming.  As my own rising 10th grader reminds me, there should be time for getting together with friends, relaxing, reading for pleasure, travel, etc.  Just my .02 cents worth, of course! :001_smile:

 

Thanks.  I am trying to be careful to not overload her.  Here's what I'm expecting her schedule to look like:

 

Summer: 

 

Art at DE

 

 

 

Fall:

 

Chemistry (DE)

Trigonometry (DE)

English

U.S. History (we'll go light)

 

 

Spring:

 

Calculus

English

U.S. History (more concentrated to finish out the year)

 

 

She's planning on spending a lot of time on Portuguese this summer because she loves it.  She'll probably continue with that during the school year or move to another language depending on time.

[Mike in SA]

I certainly wouldn't count US geography.  For the math credit, trig in one semester and calculus in the second would not be at all overwhelming.  The only point of debate would be the full credit given, as calculus BC is comparable to two full semesters of calculus, but only counts as one HS credit.  I really doubt it would matter much to a college, as calculus is already a solid level of mathematics education, and many HS students do take two years of calculus, after all (AB - calc 1, followed by BC - calc 1&2).

 

To be honest, the only bits that look at all questionable to me are counting a 1-semester art appreciation course for a full credit, and possibly the 1-semester elementary chemistry (for non-majors?) for a full credit.  The high school AP chemistry is a full 2-semester for-majors equivalent, and AP art history likewise is meant to be similar to a two-semester sequence.

 

It looks like you may be one course shy against the local standards (here, where seven full courses are expected).  3 DE courses + 2 HS courses or 3 + 3 would be a load.  I really don't think it's a problem, though.

[Kassia]

I certainly wouldn't count US geography.  For the math credit, trig in one semester and calculus in the second would not be at all overwhelming.  The only point of debate would be the full credit given, as calculus BC is comparable to two full semesters of calculus, but only counts as one HS credit.  I really doubt it would matter much to a college, as calculus is already a solid level of mathematics education, and many HS students do take two years of calculus, after all (AB - calc 1, followed by BC - calc 1&2).

 

To be honest, the only bits that look at all questionable to me are counting a 1-semester art appreciation course for a full credit, and possibly the 1-semester elementary chemistry (for non-majors?) for a full credit.  The high school AP chemistry is a full 2-semester for-majors equivalent, and AP art history likewise is meant to be similar to a two-semester sequence.

 

It looks like you may be one course shy against the local standards (here, where seven full courses are expected).  3 DE courses + 2 HS courses or 3 + 3 would be a load.  I really don't think it's a problem, though.

 

Thank you!  This is all so confusing to me.  I'm in Ohio and we are told that a 3 credit college course = 1 high school credit so that's why I was comfortable with the art class counting.   When my sons did DE, a 3 credit college course only counted as .5 credit, which made it more difficult to get the core classes done but it seemed more reasonable as far as workload.  

 

The elementary chemistry class is a 4 credit class with a lab and is for those students who haven't taken high school chemistry.  She definitely plans to continue with the calculus sequence in her junior/senior years - Calculus 2 and 3, along with Linear Algebra and Differential Equations plus Statistics.  

 

I wonder if we *should* add another class to get her to seven credits for the year...I guess a lot of it depends on whether or not we end up counting Portuguese as foreign language.  She spent an enormous amount of time teaching herself Spanish and I expect she'll do the same with Portuguese.  

[wed1998]

I'm confused by the terminology 'calculus AB' and 'calculus 1&2 BC.'  What do AB and BC stand for?  Ordinarily, I would expect trig to be completed prior to calculus, and calculus to be a full year course.  I would love to see the percentage of high school grads who have taken calculus 1, let alone calculus 2.  I have yet to hear of any taking calc 2 in my extended community.  As for Differential Equations, my local cc offers an Associate of Engineering degree, and DE is the 4th semester math for that degree.

[Kassia]

I'm confused by the terminology 'calculus AB' and 'calculus 1&2 BC.'  What do AB and BC stand for?  Ordinarily, I would expect trig to be completed prior to calculus, and calculus to be a full year course.  I would love to see the percentage of high school grads who have taken calculus 1, let alone calculus 2.  I have yet to hear of any taking calc 2 in my extended community.  As for Differential Equations, my local cc offers an Associate of Engineering degree, and DE is the 4th semester math for that degree.

 

Calculus AB moves slower and doesn't cover as much material as BC.  After BC is completed, the student should be ready to move on to Calculus 3 (multivariable).  

 

One of my sons was a DE student and completed the entire math sequence through Differential Equations during high school.  His brothers went to ps and went through Calculus BC.  Since dd will probably complete Calculus 1 in her sophomore year, I expect her to get through Differential Equations as a DE student if that's what she wants to do.  

[GoodGrief]

Honestly, though the dual enrollment classes can be considered a full high school credit, I would still have a science class in the second semester. It doesn't have to be dual enrollment.

 

I'd want foreign language in some form on an ongoing basis if college is the goal. If she can continue the Portuguese, great, or maybe more advanced work in her previous language.

 

If she is a good math student, I think the math plan is fine. For comp sci, she should have a strong math background, so I would think less in terms of how many credits she has earned, and more about the content she is covering.

[Kassia]

Honestly, though the dual enrollment classes can be considered a full high school credit, I would still have a science class in the second semester. It doesn't have to be dual enrollment.

 

I'd want foreign language in some form on an ongoing basis if college is the goal. If she can continue the Portuguese, great, or maybe more advanced work in her previous language.

 

If she is a good math student, I think the math plan is fine. For comp sci, she should have a strong math background, so I would think less in terms of how many credits she has earned, and more about the content she is covering.

 

Thank you!  

 

She really doesn't like science and I don't know what I could do at home in one semester.  Any suggestions?  I could have her do an easier DE course (astronomy or ocean studies), but I don't want to overload her since she'll be taking the five credit calculus class.  

 

I'd love for her to continue with Spanish, but she's taken all the classes available at her community college.  She is very excited about Portuguese, though, and has started on that.  I think she'll do enough for a credit.  

 

Gosh, this is all so confusing.  Thank you to everyone for your input.  It is very much appreciated.  

[kiana]

I'm confused by the terminology 'calculus AB' and 'calculus 1&2 BC.'  What do AB and BC stand for?  Ordinarily, I would expect trig to be completed prior to calculus, and calculus to be a full year course.  I would love to see the percentage of high school grads who have taken calculus 1, let alone calculus 2.  I have yet to hear of any taking calc 2 in my extended community.  As for Differential Equations, my local cc offers an Associate of Engineering degree, and DE is the 4th semester math for that degree.

 

AB is 2 quarters of a 3-quarter sequence and BC is all 3 quarters, so one year. Calc 1 is one semester of a two-semester sequence and calc 2 is two semesters, so one year. After either calc A/B/C or calc 1/2 the student will typically move to multivariable calculus, often known as calc 3 in a semester-based system. 

 

As most universities use semesters instead of quarters now, calc AB typically grants credit for calc 1 and calc BC typically grants credit for calc 1 and 2, or sometimes just calc 1 if the score is lower. 

[kiana]

Thank you!  

 

She really doesn't like science and I don't know what I could do at home in one semester.  Any suggestions?  I could have her do an easier DE course (astronomy or ocean studies), but I don't want to overload her since she'll be taking the five credit calculus class.  

 

I'd love for her to continue with Spanish, but she's taken all the classes available at her community college.  She is very excited about Portuguese, though, and has started on that.  I think she'll do enough for a credit.  

 

Gosh, this is all so confusing.  Thank you to everyone for your input.  It is very much appreciated.  

 

You could also do astronomy, meteorology, geology, non-ap environmental science, or ocean studies at home by purchasing a college textbook intended for a gen ed class and working through it. That way if she needed to work on her own schedule she could continue it into summer if necessary. Plus all of these are cool things to know. 

[Corraleno]

I'd definitely put Portuguese on there, which would give her 7 credits. Personally I wouldn't worry about adding a 2nd science; I think a semester of DE lab science is fine. 

 

If your DD loves math and languages, she might want to explore computational linguistics. There are online practice problems at the NACLO website she could play around with to see if it's something she might enjoy. 

[Kassia]

I'd definitely put Portuguese on there, which would give her 7 credits. Personally I wouldn't worry about adding a 2nd science; I think a semester of DE lab science is fine. 

 

If your DD loves math and languages, she might want to explore computational linguistics. There are online practice problems at the NACLO website she could play around with to see if it's something she might enjoy. 

 

Yes!  I have been telling her about computational linguistics as something she should look into.  I think it would be a perfect fit for her.  Thank you for the link!